Getting Stronger, Not Older
People are living longer and healthier lives than ever before, taking action to sustain longevity. Much of this is due to improved medical care and a better understanding of nutrition-power foods, vitamins, minerals, and other supplements that can enhance health and vitality. Many seniors take charge of their health by eating cleaner and healthier, incorporating natural health boosters and practices into their daily routines. A heightened awareness of how fitness and exercise can impact and improve senior and overall human health is promoted. The numerous research studies also give us hope as age-related challenges like memory loss, sleep deprivation, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and other psychological or brain-related ailments that trouble mostly the aging population.
We all want to live a long, robust life of health, vitality, and continued independence. Our goal is to be strong in mind and body and continue doing the most basic activities of daily living. Yet many adults over sixty-five suffer from frailty syndrome, weak bones, and balance issues, rising well beyond their eighties. Worse still, nearly 50% of elders are pre-frail and need help carrying out daily activities. As we age, the body becomes feeble and loses strength due to food intake and muscle loss. It helps to know how the body changes and recognize the impact of these changes.
Are your joints beginning to creak? Is once mild backache generating chronic pain? Do climbing stairs lead to shortness of breath?
Are your cholesterol blood sugar levels increasing?
Is your blood pressure high?
These signs don't mean you are over the hill but indicate potential problems you must address.
Eat Right and Stay Fit
Your diet is the first factor you must examine - and maybe the easiest one to correct. By implementing a balanced eating regimen, emphasizing a high-fiber and low-fat diet, you can start to lose weight, speed up your metabolism, maintain blood pressure, and see your blood sugar and cholesterol levels go lower. Adding certain healing herbs, spices, and other plants to your recipes will boost your immune system and improve your mood, digestion, circulation, joint health, and skin tone.
In Ayurveda, the syndrome where the body turns frail as we age is called Jara shosha, wasting of muscles, weight loss, weak bones and tendons, low physical activity and energy, and cognitive impairment. Other conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, dementia, stroke, and hip and knee fractures can trigger a downward spiral, causing a loss of confidence and strength in one's ability.
Staying active and strong throughout life can prevent Jara shosha and restore strength and balance as we age.
Simple steps of exercise every day, brisk walking 20 minutes three times a week - a low-impact way to begin, or swimming and bicycling, before moving on to more challenging exercises like aerobics, HIIT, or other strength training workouts either at home or at a health club. This might be the time to investigate natural joint supplements and herbal energy boosters to enhance and keep your memory in good working order and augment brain function.
Creating a Healthy Routine in Few Steps
Step One: Exercise
Developing muscle strength is vital to restoring significant muscle loss experienced by the elderly, called frailty or sarcopenia, and in Ayurveda as mamsakashaya (mamsa-muscle, kashaya- loss / less).
A person who is bedridden due to an illness and leads a sedentary lifestyle cannot exercise because of joint pain or arthritis needs to develop and maintain muscle strength and prioritize an exercise regimen, including walking, strength training, and yoga. Enjoy activities that bring mind-body awareness and fun, creating it as a daily routine, worthy of fun and not a punishment.
If you are starting new or after a prolonged illness, follow an incremental exercise regimen by slowly increasing your aerobic and strength training until you return to your regular workouts. If injuries or arthritis, balance, and stability are bothersome, seek the help of a physical or yoga therapist to maximize your capabilities. Walking and balance training will be one of the guidelines to be consistent as you develop strength in your body.
Do whatever you have to do—but keep moving!
Step Two: Nutrition
Good nutrition is about eating healthy. Building a plan based on your preferences, culture, and budget to nurture your body with nutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals - all throughout our lives – as babies, toddlers, children, adults, and then older adults.
Healthy eating does not mean following a rigorous diet or eating only certain types of food. You can eat various foods, including less healthy options, but watch your portions and only have them a few times. Balancing your diet with more nutritious foods and regular physical activity will maintain overall health, metabolism, and digestion.
Talking about Ayurvedic nutrition focuses more on balance between your body and mind. An eating plan that sets guidelines for when, how, and what you should eat based on dosha or body type based on vital five elements that make up the universe — vayu (air), Jala (water), Akash (space), Teja (fire), and Prithvi (earth).
For example, the pitta dosha focuses on cooling and energizing foods like fresh fruits and dates and limiting spices, nuts, and seeds.
Vata dosha favors warm, moist, and grounding foods such as avocados, butter or ghee, and rice. Avoid drier, bitter foods or herbs and raw veggies.
Finally, the Kapha dosha limits heavy foods like nuts, seeds, and oils in favor of fresh fruits, veggies, and legumes. Refreshing but warm foods like vegetable soup and bitter greens. Limiting red meats, artificial sweeteners, and processed ingredients to balance all three doshas.
Eat foods that provide sustained nutrients without a lot of unnecessary calories, such as;
Fruits and vegetables (include all lovely bright-colored veggies)
Whole grains, like oatmeal, whole-wheat, gluten-free options, coconut, sorghum, chickpea, brown rice, and more.
Consuming low-fat, Fat-free milk, A2 cow's milk, rice, cashew, or oat milk.
Beans, nuts, and seeds
Seafood, lean meats, poultry, and eggs.
Avoid empty calories and foods that are low in cholesterol and fat. Foods that include chips, candy, baked goods, soda, and alcohol have empty calories with no natural nutrients.
Saturated usually comes from animals, and trans fats are mainly processed fats sold as stick margarine and vegetable shortening - often do not get into the good fat list.
Drinking enough water to maintain body fluid intake balances our body and keeps the skin hydrated. As we age, the sense of thirst disappears, and medicines leave a tasteless mouth.
Be physically active. Exercising may help you feel hungrier if you start losing your appetite.
Step Three: Sleep
The altered state of consciousness occurs when we sleep and is the primary nourisher of life. We are aware of the change that sleep brings for every part of the body; the peaceful state (depending on the stage of sleep) where the brain is active, carrying out many vital functions of maintaining our physical and mental processes, ability to fight disease and develop immunity, and strengthen metabolism. Our body, mind, and spirit need rest to rejuvenate and reenergize daily. Young children need sleep routines as their bodies and minds grow. It is well-researched that proper sleep habits promote long-lasting health benefits and aid with depression, and anxiety, staying focused and preserving our memory, and managing poor eating patterns and weight gain.
In Ayurveda, sleep is called nidra (Sanskrit) and is one of the three pillars of good health. The other two pillars are food (Ahara) and control over -the proper management of sexual energy (Brahmacharya).
According to ancient texts such as Charaka Samhita, good sleep is determined by bodily functions based on the three constitutional types, or doshas. Vata (wind), Pitta (fire), Kapha (earth). The right balance of these three elements is essential for a healthy life.
As we age, it is the Vata time of life - dry skin, restless sleep, constant bloating, gas, and general uneasiness. A daily ritual to pacify Vata is to calm your senses with Abhangya (oil massage) with sesame oil on the body, soles of the feet, and scalp at least once a week or daily if time permits, a warm bath after the massage, sleeping in a well-ventilated room, lighting scented candles or using essential oils like chamomile, lavender, sweet orange, eucalyptus that bring incredible benefits. Suggestions, Oil for Pitta dosha sunflower or coconut and a blend of coconut, castor, or flaxseed oil for kapha.
Please consult an Ayurvedic Doctor to recommend a medicated herbal oil for your type.
Step Four: Oral Hygiene
Oral hygiene, healthy teeth, and gums are the best practice for maintaining overall good health; it all starts in the mouth as we consume various foods. Keeping the mouth and tongue clean, brushing, and flossing for a germ-free oral environment. Regular dentist visits, X-rays, exams, and cleanings are vital to prevent bacteria from settling in the mouth, causing gum disease, cavities, bad breath (halitosis), and other issues. Oral hygiene is preventative care and is also linked to whole-body health. For example, any infection in the mouth will carry that bacteria through the bloodstream to other areas of the body, leading to other health concerns like heart disease and stroke.
Saliva is released by the salivary glands to establish a sense of taste, initiating digestion. In Ayurveda, oral hygiene is determined by the sub-dosha of Kapha called Bodhaka kapha; the saliva moistens the mouth's mucus membranes and helps prevent cavities by washing away bits of food reducing the food acids to affect the teeth enamel. Sometimes, we experience dry mouth, a deficiency in bodhaka kapha. When this occurs, digestion is impaired, acidity can affect the teeth' enamel, plaque builds up, and over time can lead to gum infections, tooth loss, and decay.
Ayurvedic practices such as Dinarcharya (self-care daily rituals) can help restore bodhaka kapha and maintain a healthy oral biome.
Tongue-cleaning or Tongue Scraping is one of the daily morning routines everyone should follow upon waking; the accumulation of ama ( Sanskrit term for toxins) or bacteria settling in the back of your tongue gives rise to bad breath, no food taste, and poor digestion. Scraping these toxins for daily detoxification will maintain healthy oral fauna, freshen breath, improve flavor, stimulate the large intestine for elimination, support good digestion, activate the senses, and jumpstart your day rigorously.
Oil Pulling or rinsing oil in the mouth through the teeth, a daily morning ritual after tongue cleaning for ten mins, supports oral health. A common habit in the United States, but this practice is rooted in Ayurveda. It is known in Sanskrit as Kavala Graha or Gandusha. It eliminates ama (toxins/impurities), strengthens gums and enamel, eradicates plaque and bacteria, freshens breath, reduces inflammation, restores bodhaka kapha, and reduces symptoms associated with TMJ.
Supporting your oral hygiene by daily oil pulling with sesame, coconut, Amalaki (amla), clove oil, or any medicated oil recommended by your Ayurvedic Doctor.
Brushing and Flossing are probably logged down every morning.
Flossing effectively removes plaque and debris and eliminates tooth decay, gingivitis, and inflammation that builds up along the gum line and between teeth. An electric toothbrush like Philips Sonicare or Oral-B is good for oral health as it can reach places your toothbrush cannot. The Ayurveda approach is to massage the gums with sesame oil after brushing to increase blood flow and oxygen for strengthening the gum tissue.
Step Five: Re-establish Love
As we age, meaningful, loving connections and the desire for closeness and intimacy change but don't disappear. Individuals aged fifty to eighty-nine engaged in intimate activities and experienced emotional closeness to their spouse or a loved one, revealing a higher quality of life and positive physical and emotional impact on their well-being. It nurtures and strengthens bonds of love and confers protection from health problems, mental issues like depression, loneliness, heart disease, addiction, and high blood pressure associated with aging. Sex releases passion at any age, and aging individuals can remain sexually active despite physiological changes. Mutual expressions of love, intimate skin-to-skin contact, and caresses can enhance loving partnership and sexual satisfaction for health at this stage of life. Sexual activity doesn't need to stop; it may only need to be altered.
Ayurveda considers aging a natural and inevitable process. Consistent changes and accepting them throughout our lives manifest in healthy aging. Healthy aging incorporates healthy lifestyle practices and routines, Dinarcharya (daily routines) and Rituarcharya (seasonal rituals), that promote good health and vitality and encourage the positive transformation of the body and mind. Living a harmonious life with nature, being mindful, having universal consciousness of the world and the environment, and understanding individual constitutions all contribute to a happy elderhood of life.
References:
Klassen, T. (2022, November 23). Aging leaders threaten world order. Winnipeg Free Press, A7.
Online Diet Consultation in Ayurvedic Abu Road. http://www.ayurtejayurvedic.com/diet-consultation/
World Sleep Day 2018 - Win Medica. https://winmedica.gr/en/world-sleep-day-2018/